The Home Front
by Lady Kino
Summary: The story of Gundam Wing, but told from the point of veiw of an orrdinary citizen.  I'll have the G-boys in it later, promise, and most of the other cast, too.  Chapter Two is up.  Yeah!  Ami begins to deal with the war.
1. Chapter One

The Home Front - Chapter 1

by Mako-chan

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Duh.

I sat in the living room, curled up on the couch with a fuzzy pillow in my lap and the noise of the TV in the background, reading my letter from Father. I loved these snail-mail letters he sent me. I felt like I was no longer in our living room, but rather in the mess hall of a military ship, watching Karen and Tanya going at it tooth and nail. Father should have been a writer, but instead he chose a career in the Alliance. Just last year, my brother Joshua joined him in the military.

"Ami?" Mom's voice jerked me back into the present.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the living room!"

Mom stuck her head through the door.

"Hi Mom. We got a letter."

"Great. Come help me with dinner first." I got up and followed her into the kitchen, chatting about the soap opera unfolding across the sea.

This was my life. It wasn't the best. I wished Father and Joshua were home. I wished we all lived together, in a house in suburbia. I wished my family made more money. I wished a lot of things, but they never came true. Mom and I still lived in a fair sized apartment a little too close to downtown Madrid for anyone's comfort. The other half of my family lived halfway across the world on a ship called the Hoshi. But it was my life so I loved it. We had a home, we paid our bills every month, and there was no war. Plus, I still had my letters. So I loved my life. And I loved pasta, which is what we had for dinner.

That night during dinner I went off on a philosophical trip. Well, as close to deep thinking as I got anyways. I tried to put my life in perspective, find that silver lining. It wasn't easy, but I finally decided on my Mom. Mom was my one true blessing in life. She was my best friend, my role model, and most importantly my mother. I could tell her anything. I did tell her everything. Almost.

My life could have continued just like that. Time could have stopped, and I would have been happy. I've always wondered why things had to change, why we can't stay four years old forever, why we have to get older, smarter, sadder. Some people can't wait to get older and embrace all the freedom and responsibilities that go with it. Me, I wanted to stay four forever. But I wasn't that lucky. My whole world changed twice. Once in third grade, and again on March 23, 195 A.C.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time I got home that day I was exhausted. I was positive my teachers wanted to kill me. After all the work I put in at school, I was still over burdened with homework. I was halfway through my Spanish when Mom came home from work.

"Hi honey," she said, coming into my room

"Hi Mom." I finished my last sentence, and then erased the entire thing. "RRRRGGGGG! Why do we have to learn Spanish?!"

"Because we live in Spain, dear."

"But it's a dead language! Everyone speaks Common."

"English."

"But it's not true English anymore cause it's been changed so much. So it's Common."

Mom sighed. "Okay. Are you going to help me with dinner?"

"No. I have to do all this pointless Spanish."

"It's not pointless, it's good for you."

"Whatever."

Mom laughed as she stood up. "I don't feel like cooking." She walked away, thinking out loud. "I'll just get fast-food. But then...." Her voice trailed off as she wandered farther down the hall, still discussing the advantages of fast food with herself.

I laughed a little as I heard her go out the front door, then tore through my desk looking for a Spanish-Common dictionary.

I'd moved on to Geometry when Mom came home with dinner. Funny how something so major in my life I remember best by what homework I was doing. But that's what I was doing so that's what I remember.

"Ami!"

"Yeah Mom?"

"Come here!"

"Just a moment!"

"Now!"

"But mom - "

"NOW!"

I set aside my work and walked into the living room, very confused. Mom was never that demanding.

"What is it?" I asked as I passed through the door. Burger Bell take-out bags were thrown haphazardly on the kitchen table, but Mom sat on the couch, her attention fixed firmly on the T.V. "Mom?"

"Come. Sit."

I did as she asked and sat next to her on the couch.

...This brutal attack.

The reporter finished her bit and the scene on the T.V. changed. It was an aerial view, shot from a helicopter, of the mangled remains of a ship. The pile of rubble and twisted bits of hull was so disfigured I could hardly tell what it was.

"Oh my God...." I whispered. Was that Father's ship?! Was he dead?! What was going on?!

For those of you just joining us, we are watching all that remains of the Alliance ship, the Gobierno, that was attacked and destroyed early this morning, leaving no survivors. An investigation will begin shortly to discover what happened. As of yet, we do not know the cause of the destruction.

The reporter droned on and on with some patriotic crap about how the Alliance will find the terrorists and 'bring them to justice' and all that, but I didn't care. I could have cried with relief. I think I did cry. It wasn't the Hoshi, Father and Joshua was safe. For now. They were alive.

Mom continued to flip channels, looking for news about the attack, but I just sat numbly on the couch, trying to sort through my emotions. I was happy, my Father was still alive. Of course I was happy. But all those people on the Gobierno, 250 people, all of them dead. I felt oddly disconnected from that, as if they didn't matter. Yes it was really sad that all those people died, but I didn't know them. Everyone I knew was safe. But with this attack would come some sort of retaliation. Which would mean a war. Which would mean Father and Joshua would be in danger. So I was terrified. Happy, scared, and sad, all at once.

After an hour, maybe two, I went back to my room muttering something about finishing my homework. I never did finish it.

Late that night we got a phone call.

Bring! Bring!

The harsh noise jerked me out of slumber. Down the hall, I could hear Mom fumbling for the phone in the kitchen. Silently, I crept from my bed and into the hall.

"Hello? ...... Chuck!?!?!? Oh my god! Are you okay!" She paused, listening to Father talk. There were tears streaming down her face. She caught sight of me and beckoned me into the room. "Yeah, she's here." Mom smiled and handed me the phone. "Here."

"Dad?"

"Hey honey." I felt my thought tighten and tears form behind my eyes.

"Dad - " I swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat.

"Ami? You there?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't call earlier."

"S'okay." Mom and I had experienced the same trouble trying to call him that evening. "Is Josh there?"

"Yeah, he's here. Somewhere. You wouldn't believe how crazy things are over here."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen now?"

"I don't know." He paused. I could hear someone shouting in the background. "I just don't know......"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hi Ami!" Jenni stopped me in the hall as I was trying to make it to Geometry. "What's up, girl? You look like crap."

"Jee thanks, Jen."

"So…….?"

"So what?"

"So what happened to you?"

"To me? Nothing. Just didn't get enough sleep, that's all."

"How come?"

"No reason."

"Don't suppose you were able to finish the Spanish homework, since you were up so late?"

"Uhhhh……"

"Ami!"

"Yeah, well…. Time for class. See you at lunch!"

I shouldered my way down the hall and away from Jenni. The last thing I needed now was a best friend who thought she was my mother. Most of my day was like that. I made excuses and avoided questions and tried to reassure people that nothing was wrong, all between a series of five minuet naps. I'm not sure why I avoided everybody. They all knew about the ship and about Father and Joshua. I just didn't want to talk about it, or to hear about it. I was sick of the subject.

By lunch I was exhausted. Getting only three hours of sleep will do that to you. Triste shoved her backpack farther down the table and I sat in the vacated spot.

"Well," she said through a mouthful of glop, "let's hear your story."

"Huh?"

"Come on. I know you heard about the terrorist attacks yesterday. Everyone with any connection to the Alliance can't stop talking. There's all sorts of rumors going around."

"Like what? How many attacks?"

"From what I've heard there were at least six attacks yesterday. They're saying it's a colony rebellion and they want to overthrow the Alliance and take over the Earth! Can you imagine having to listen to some stupid tyrant form the colonies?"

"That would never happen."

"It could." 

She said it so confidently, I almost believed her. It was a thought I'd been trying to avoid, the thought that we might have to go to war. That would mean Father and Joshua would have to go to war. Nobody mentioned it last night. I didn't even want to think about it.

"Hi Jenni! Hi Rachel!"

My head snapped up and I looked at my friends. "Hey guys."

"Well Ami, will you make it through the day?"

"Maybe." I think Jen laughed, but I wasn't quite awake at that point.

"Did you hear?"

We all looked at Rachel.

"Well, I've heard about a gazillion wild stories. Which one are you talking about?"

"That the colonies made a super powerful mobile suit! Have you heard of Specials Lt. Zechs?"

"The Lightning Count?"

"Yeah, him. Well. My uncle has a friend in the military and he has a friend who's brother was on the plane with him yesterday!"

She paused. We waited. "Yeah…….. So?"

"So, he was there when Lt. Zechs got attacked!"

"Zechs got attacked?"

"What?"

"Yeah! They were flying somewhere and they found little fighter plane trying to come in from the colonies. It was a plane, and , like, it turned into a mobile suit in mid-air!"

"Yeah, right, Rachel. No MS can do that."

"But this one did! It took out two Aries with one shot! In the middle of a free fall! But Lt. Zechs sank it."

"Sank it?"

"Yeah, he shot it down and it landed in the ocean."

"No he didn't, cause it didn't happen."

"How do you know?"

"Cause that's impossible. Only Alliance has the technology to make MS."

"Maybe they sold it. Or the colonies stole it!"

"Or maybe Rachel's story is nothing but BS."

"It is not!"

"Is so!"

"Shut up you two."

"I still say it couldn't happen."

"It could and it did."

"Shut up."

My friends were still fighting when I drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hello, Ami!" Mom was home already, in the kitchen and cleaning up something, when I got back from school.

"Hi Mom!" I threw my bag down on the couch and joined her at the sink. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just cleaning up a little mess I made. By the way, we'll have brownies in a few minuets. Don't let me forget they're in the oven." She handed me a towel.

"No, I mean what are you doing home so early?" I took the towel and started drying dishes.

"Well, business was kinda slow and Sandy didn't come in today so I decided to close shop a little early today."

"How early?"

"Oh, about one or so."

"Oh."

"So how was your day at school, honey?"

"Fine."

"Get a lot of homework?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

We didn't say much for the rest of the evening. It seemed that nothing interesting had happened since the other day, and neither of us were willing to discuss that. We ate a pot pie and watched some TV, but all the sitcoms were replaced by news stories, this time of one of the bases that was attacked. Just when the world needed sitcoms, and there were none on. Mom wandered off to do some paperwork for the shop. She co-owned a little flower shop in town. They mostly did weddings and big celebrations, but occasionally they'd get an order for a funeral. I wondered how many more funerals she'd be doing now. 

I trudged back to my room, fully intending to do my homework. Once I was in the door and had my shoes off, I fell over on my bed and went to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They next week or so was fairly uneventful. It was uneventful for me at least. According to the news, and to my friends, there was plenty of excitement elsewhere in the world. Not that I didn't care, it just didn't affect me too much. After all, I still went to school and, well, not much else. There wasn't much in my life to interrupt.

I still had a constant fear that the Alliance would go to war and Father and Joshua would have to fight, but I was still confidant that everything would be fine, that the Alliance would take care of things. Officially, there was no threat. The Alliance pretty much refused to admit that there were terrorists around. Of course, they also wouldn't explain to us why all their bases and ships were spontaneously being destroyed. 

Letters from Father stopped coming. Instead we got phone calls and e-mails many times a day. Father, too, couldn't tell us much. He dropped hints though. He told us how the Hoshi was so busy cause of all the new stuff being brought on board and of how nice it was to be on the move again. Joshua was less subtle. We learned from him that the Hoshi was getting new MS and that they were getting ready to go to war. They also tries their best to reassure us that it wouldn't come to war, and I almost believed them. I almost thought that, just because they said so, everything would be okay.

I was watching the news when the announcement came. Well, I was watching cartoons when the news interrupted me. A small, pointy little man with a bald head and a gray beard came on the screen to make an announcement.

This is the colonies declaration of war against us. We were just discussing peace talks with the colonies today. Marshal Noventa was to head these plans and he's been assassinated. He was killed when the colonies invaded in mobile suits. I repeat, this was a brutal invasion by the colonies. We will not yield to the colonies. We must fight them till the bitter end.

"MOM!!"

She came pelting into the room. I pointed to the television with one shaking finger, not saying a word. Whether she simply divined the information from my gesture or heard it on the screen, I'll never know. I'd lost all connection with reality. I seemed to be floating over my own body, watching myself as I stared blankly into space.

I couldn't think. I couldn't! I couldn't think about what had just been announced, because if I thought about it, the I would follow those statements through to their logical conclusion. He hadn't said it, not really, and yet he had. It was something I couldn't let myself think of, because to think it would be to admit that it was true. And it _couldn't_ be true.

"War."

End Ch. 1 


	2. Chapter Two

The Home Front - Chapter 2

by Mako-chan

Disclaimer:  I still don't own Gundam Wing.  Wah!

I sat watching it.  Again and again and again.  It was the only thing on T.V. and I didn't have the heart or energy to do anything else.  Mother couldn't stand to be in the room. She alternated between pacing and trying to get some work done.  Every now and then she'd glance at the phone, as if that would make it ring. 

I watched the news, a bit detached from myself.  I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, the terrible implications of what I was watching, but I shut them out.  I watched as if I were watching a movie.  It wasn't too hard, since it was just a bunch of MS blowing up.  It didn't seem personal enough to actually affect me.  

"Honey, turn that off." 

"Why?"  I glanced back at my mother.  She looked incredibly weary and sad.

"Just turn in off."

She sounded so old; I did what she told me without complaining.  We sat together on the couch, an uneasy silence souring between us.  She sighed, got up, and paced.  I let out my breath and fell back on the couch, trying my best not to think.

"Ami."  Mother came into the room a few minutes later.  "Come eat."

We had simple sandwiches for dinner and ate in silence.

"You know, Ami," Mother said, rinsing her plate, "we should-"

"Talk?  Uh, thanks, but maybe later." 

"If-"

"I got homework." 

I raced out of the kitchen and into the relative safety of my room.  I didn't want to talk.  I didn't want to think.  I just wanted to be left alone.  Couldn't she understand that? 

I got out my math book and paper, but couldn't concentrate.  The numbers swam in front of my eyes.  My mind felt like it was trapped in quicksand.  I just couldn't force myself to think about math. Which was just as well, since I didn't want to think about anything.

I made myself finish anyway.  About an hour later, Mother came in as I was copying my answers to a disk.

"Done?" she asked, standing in the doorway.  She looked bowed under some unseen weight, her face showing the strains of the day.

"Yeah, I'm done."  I tried not to look at her.  Instead I stared intently at my computer screen.

"Well, goodnight."  She left, closing the door behind her.

I turned off the computer, shoved it in my bag, and went to bed.  Tired as I was, I couldn't sleep. I thought of the war and my family and the look on Mother's face.  As soon as each though popped into my mind, I tried my best to suppress it.  It was a long while before my thoughts let me sleep.

~*~*~*~

Jenni tapped my shoulder as I walked down the hall.  "Hey, girl."  She sounded concerned.

"Hey, Jen.  Did you see the news last night?  Crazy stuff, huh?"

Jenni frowned.  "Yeah, I saw.  How are you holding up?"

"Who me?  Oh, just fine."  I smiled as brightly as I could, but it didn't fool her.

"Hove you heard from your dad?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, I'm sure they're fine."

"Did you do the history terms?"

She caught my not-so-subtle attempt to change the subject and sighed.  "Yeah.  You can copy it."

We walked to class together, chatting idly about petty things.  It felt nice to act normal, as if nothing were wrong.  When we got to class she handed me a disk.

"I'll give it back at lunch, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever."  She smiled and waved goodbye, but still looked troubled.

I took my seat at the back of the class, set up my computer, and began copying.  Our chemistry teacher had a habit of talking about everything but chemistry and I was not looking forward to the class.

"Good morning, class," Mrs. Chaunche sang.  She acted entirely too cheerful.  "Who saw the news last night?"

I discreetly placed my headphones in my ears and cranked up the volume, grateful that I had the newer kind and no one else could hear my music.  The kids around me chatted animatedly about the coming war.  Thinking back, I realized that none of them had family in the Alliance.  In fact, unless we went into "total war," these people wouldn't be affected at all.  So I let the music drown out their endless nonsense.

Chaunche let us out a few minuets early, reminding us that we still had a test the next day.  I expected the rest of my classes to be the same, with the notable exception of Spanish, but I walked into History class everything changed.  The other kids still gossiped and laughed and milled about, taking forever to find their seats, but Mr. Wellhaul simply sat at his desk, staring numbly at the newspaper.  

We seated ourselves as the bell rang and I took my usual back row seat.  Mr. Wellhaul continued to read.  Except, he wasn't reading.  He was just staring at the paper, as if he couldn't believe what was written there.  Someone coughed and Mr. Wellhaul looked up, noticing his class for the first time.

"I...I think we'll cancel what I had planned for today," he said so softly I had to strain to hear him.  I half expected this and again got out my earphones.  But instead of leading a class discussion, Mr. Wellhaul moved slowly, as if in a daze, over to the T.V. and turned on the news channel.

I could have died.  Just curled up in my seat and died.  I didn't want to see what they were playing.  But I couldn't stop.  Like a moth to the flame, my eyes were fixed on that screen and I had to watch.  Couldn't stop, just had to watch.  My heart must have stopped as soon as I realized what I was seeing, for it wasn't more of the same from the night before.  It was my worst nightmare played out on the television for all to see.

Alliance troops attacking Alliance troops.  Somewhere in a desert, I didn't really pay attention, Alliance troops were attacking Alliance troops.

I sat and watched with the rest of the class.  No one spoke for a few minutes.  We were just trying to figure out what was going on.  Slowly, piece by piece, we learned what was going on.  An uprising in disloyal Alliance troops across the world followed the announcement of the night before.  Each rebel uprising was subdued by the Special Forces OZ shortly after it began.  No official casualty count could be released at the time, but we'll bring you more as the story develops, and all that crap.

Gradually, quietly, the class took up their constant cit„chat again.  It was inescapable, that annoying noise, the quiet, hushed whispers and slightly bolder, louder arguments, the half-heard conversations, all dozen of them, all around.  They all said the same thing, and yet they all said something different.  I could hear them, yet I couldn't quite hear them.  The T.V. continued to drone on and on, and my class mates talked and talked and I tried to listen to all of them at once and at the same time curl up in my seat and just let the whole world go to hell.  They talked and they talked and I listened, without really listening.

I closed my eyes and covered my head, not sure of what to do.  My heart was racing and I could still hear them, talking and talking.  Why couldn't they just shut up?  I couldn't think with all the noise.  But I didn't want to think.  I knew what I'd seen on the television.  But I couldn't think about it.  Oz.  Alliance.  Father.  Joshua.  What would happen to them?  To us?  I couldn't think.  I didn't want to.

~*~*~*~

The rest of my classes were pretty much the same, except for Spanish.  Senora's husband was in the Alliance, so we didn't do much of anything.

I felt sorry for her as I sat in the back of the room.  She looked…hollow.  Not sad, just kind of empty.  Like she'd felt all the emotions in the world so much she'd become immune to them.  She sat behind her desk, moving piles of paper from one side of her desk to the other, looking so sad and forlorn I wanted to cry just looking at her.

At lunch I sat away from our usual spot, hoping my friends would take the hint.  They didn't.

"Hey, Ami."  Triste dropped into the chair next to me.  "How are you?"

"Fine."  I poked sullenly at my food.

"Schools gone crazy over all this war crap, ya know?  You think it'll come to that?"

"Dunno"

"Aw, come on.  You've got to know something, what with your Dad and Josh in the Alliance and all."

"I don't."

"Jeeze, your folks are really close mouthed.  Everyone else can't stop taking."

I was about ready to hit my "friend" but she was saved by Rachel and Morgan.

"Hey, guys!  Come sit down!"  Triste waved cheerfully.

"Guess what," Rachel asked, excitedly.

"Chicken Butt!" Allison answered, coming up behind her.

"Oh shut up and sit down," Rachel grumbled, gesturing impatiently to the seat next to me.  "You know how the Alliance says they got attacked and all last night, but won't say what really happened?"

"What distant relative of yours escaped the Jaws of Death this time?"

"Well, my brother's friend has an uncle who's friend saw the whole thing!" 

"Ooh, only three times removed."

"Shut up, Morgan."  Allison swatted at her, but Morgan ducked.  "Go on, Rachel."

"Well, it was those peace talks, right?  The Alliance wanted to make peace with the colonies, but just as they were deciding how to do it, these giant mobile suits came and killed everyone!  And they say it's the same group MS that's been causing all this trouble."

I looked at her in shock.  The colonies really did instigate the war?  Not the Alliance, with their patriotic idiocy?  How could they do such a thing?

"Bull," Morgan cried.  "If they killed everyone, how did your cousin's brother's friend's dog or whatever know about it?"

"Okay, so they didn't kill everyone, but they did get everyone who mattered."

"They had targets?"

"I guess.  But that's not the best part.  There were only five suits!"

"No way."  Morgan dismissed the possibility with a flick of her hand.  "That's not possible."

"Well it must be, cause it happened."

"So do you think these suits are in cahoots with those colony MS?"

"It's possible."

"No, it's not, because there's no way-" 

I couldn't stand it.  Just couldn't stand it.  I got up and left.  How could these people sit around and talk about this war as if it were just a story, just some plot line to a movie that's a million miles away and not even real.  Allison followed me and caught up with me in the hall.

"Hey."  She grabbed my elbow and I spun around.  "What's wrong?"

"What?  Wrong?  Uhhh...Nothing wrong."  I knew I sounded hysterical, and Allison's concerned look only grew deeper.  I took a deep breath, trying to calm my stomach.  "Nothing's wrong.  I...I just have to find Jen.  I'm supposed to give her back her disk."

"Wouldn't that be easier to do if you had your stuff?"

I turned back the way she pointed.  My shoulder bag was still by my seat.  "Uh, well, I was going to come back for it."

"Uh-huh.  Sure."  She sighed.  "What's really bothering you?"

"I-I just don't want to talk about this whole war thing anymore."

"Why not?"

I felt jittery.  I was really coming to hate the subject.  "I just don't want to, okay?  Leave me alone."

"But why not?"

"I just don't."

Allison's frown turned to a look of anger.  "How come you won't talk about this?  What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid!"

"Yes you are.  You're running away."

"No I'm not."

I turned tail and ran.

"Ami!  Wait!"

I heard her.  Really, I did.  I just didn't care.  Didn't care that I was running away.  Didn't care that Allison was mad.  Didn't care about anything but the fact that I had to get away.  A few people called after me, but I didn't stop for them.  I just ran strait into the bathroom and locked myself in the corner stall. 

It was the end of lunch by the time anyone came for me.  Jenni knocked on the stall door.

"Hey?"

"What do you want?"

She dropped something outside the stall.  "You forgot your bag at the table.  And don't take all day in there.  I'm not going to cover for you again."

"Oh."

"Later, Ami."  She knocked once on the door and left.

I wiped the tears off my face and opened the stall door.  As I gathered up my books, I couldn't but think 'Thank God for Jenni.'

~*~*~*~

            After school I ran strait into my room without pausing to say hello to Mom, even though she was home early again and puttering about the kitchen.  Quickly as I could I unpacked my shoulder bag and surrounded myself with papers.  Mom came in a few minutes later and found me already involved in homework.

            "Hey, dear.  How was you're day?"

            "Oh.  Hi Mom.  Uh…good, I guess."

            She smiled and kind of nodded her head a bit.  "That's good."

            We paused, both staring, smiling, and nodding to each other.

            "Got a lot of homework?" she finally asked.

"Yeah."

            "Well, okay then.  I'll call you when dinner's ready."  She left and closed the door behind her.

            I turned back to my homework, staring uneasily at the European History notes.  The words swam in front of my eyes and I simply couldn't focus.  I hated being at odds with my mother.  She was like my best friend, when she wasn't busy being my mother, and yet I felt oddly separated from her.  We'd hardly spoken a word to each other since the night before.

            We had a tense, quiet dinner, exchanging few words.  She seemed so tired.  And was still trying my hardest not to think.  Besides, words seemed so inadequate.  Nothing said over the dinner table would change anything anyway.

            The phone rang.  Such a simple thing.  Happens every day.  Many times a day in millions of homes.  It's so simple.  So basic.  So ordinary.  Yet it made my heart catch in my throat; made my legs move all on their own and run to the living room to answer it.

            Mother beat me to it.  "Hello?"  She almost yelled into the phone, desperation and hysteria creeping into her voice.  After a moment of silence she slammed the earpiece into the cradle, but it crashed to the floor instead.  Mother leaned against the wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position covering her head with her arms.

            "Mom?"

            She didn't look up.  It wasn't Father on the phone.  Probably just a telemarketer.  I sat next to Mother, put my arms around her, and tried my best to comfort her.

            She didn't make a sound.  Just sat there in a heap on the floor, silent, shoulders shaking.  My chest felt tight, like I couldn't breathe.  I didn't think about the war.  Didn't think about Father or Joshua or my crazy day or whatever was going to happen.  My whole world narrowed.  Focused.  Centered around this one person.  This one moment.  

            My whole life was suddenly all about Mother.  I had to help her.  I had to comfort her.  If only I could help _her_.  If only _she_ could be okay, then I knew everything would turn out all right.  The war was too big.  So I thought only about my Mother.  

            I hugged her, felt her pain, cried with her, and neither of us said a word.  In that moment, my whole world began to fall apart.


End file.
